The SAP Repository Framework is an extendable framework specified by SAP, which enables applications to access and manipulate objects that are stored in various information sources in a uniform, consistent manner. Examples of information sources, sometimes referred to herein as repositories, include a document or other content management system or a file system that stores unstructured data like text or graphics. Another example of a repository is a backend system like a database or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that contains structured data in the form of data records or business objects. A repository is connected to the repository framework through a Repository Manager. The Repository Manager converts the repository's internal representation of information into the uniform representation of the framework and vice versa. Applications benefit from the uniform representation because they do not have to deal with the specific behavior of different information sources. For example, a workflow application based on the framework can be extended to documents in other repositories simply by integrating the repositories in the framework. No special coding is required. Similarly, objects from information sources can benefit from the applications built on top of the framework. When a new repository is integrated in the framework, all the objects that are exposed as resources can use the applications and functions available for the framework.
In order to access the metadata, and not just the content, of the business objects stored in external repositories, the resource types and associated properties must be extracted for each and every different kind of business object present in the repositories.
In the SAP Enterprise Portal (SAP EP), to create the document types, one has to manually browse to System Administration→System Configuration→Knowledge Management→Content Management→Global Services→Resource Types. Then, click on the “new” button and enter the required fields.
Similarly, to create a property one has to manually browse to System Administration→System Configuration→Knowledge Management→Content Management→Global Services→Property Metadata→Properties. Then, click on the “new” button and enter the required fields.
In an Enterprise Portal, one may have to handle a large number of different types of business objects with large numbers of resource types and properties and each resource type and property has to be entered manually at present. This is a laborious, time consuming and difficult task as one has to manually create types and associated properties in the Global Services of the SAP EP or any other Repository Manager. Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate the need for manual entry and synchronization of the resource types and associated properties of business objects in the Global Services of the SAP EP and to devise a solution for the automation of the synchronization and importing of types and properties of the business objects with the Global Services of the SAP EP.